Free Education Product Review: Two Plus Two is Not Five

Is Your Child Struggling to Memorize the Math Facts?

Number lines, charts, fingers, and counters will delay memorization of the math facts.

If you are looking for a way to help children learn math facts, but just don't know where to start, read on.

As an educator who taught children with learning disabilities, I have always stressed mastery of the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

I realized that unless the facts are automatic, children will have difficulty learning more advanced math skills, and with solving word problems.

This is true also for children without learning disabilities.

My suggestion to anyone teaching the math facts is after the child can demonstrate what addition and subtraction means, first determine which facts the child knows automatically, that is without hesitation or counting.

Make a pack of 3” by 5” cards (flash cards) for each of those correctly answered facts.

Each day, have the children answer those facts and praise them for being able to answer quickly.

Then assign a few new facts to learn, and repeat the process so that over time, the children master all of the facts.

When the stack of cards becomes too large to go through every day, separate the newest ones from the mastered ones, and then practice the mastered ones only once a week.

*Teach children a way to remember the fact, and give them lots of written practice and review along with practicing the fact cards.

I developed many tricks and worksheets because I needed to help my students master the math facts; I wanted them to succeed in math.

Eventually, I put my ideas into two books. Two Plus Two is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction uses tricks to introduce the facts, and then provides many reproducible pages for practice and review.

It also has instructions on how to teach the math facts, record-keeping pages, and a certificate of mastery.

Children practice the math facts by the trick names throughout the book. You can view sample pages.

*Continue to review the tricks and their names when practicing the math facts.

A word of advice: Set the pace at the child's ability. Some children will be ready to learn new facts during each practice session; others may not. Keep the child successful.

Remember to praise your child!